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“Zane, did you see that? Someone already hit level 10!” Shiu called out from the living room. “Zane?”

Oh, right—I just remembered. That guy went back to his room to sleep.

Seriously? Comparing myself to him is just frustrating. It’s the first day of the game, and he actually has the time to sleep? And what’s even more ridiculous—despite all the effort I put in, his level is still higher than mine!

Still, after grinding like crazy, I finally made it to level 9. If I push a little harder, complete another quest or two, I might be able to class-advance today. Maybe, if I’m fast enough, I could even squeeze into the top three rewards…

But reality is cruel.

…These monsters. Zane’s dreams were crushed. He let his hands drop helplessly to his sides.

…

“Oh, right—Village Chief, how do I leave this place?” Starry asked, nearly forgetting about it.

“Just keep heading east until you reach the edge of the barrier. There, you’ll find a Teleportation Magic Circle. It was just unsealed moments ago. You can use it to teleport to the mainland,” the village chief explained.

“I see… Wait, just unsealed?”

“That’s right. Once one of you adventurers reaches level 10, the teleportation array is activated.”

Damn it… Starry’s expression darkened. Treka must have already escaped through the teleportation array!

“Adventurer, what’s wrong? Don’t tell me… you’ve been infected?!” The village chief gasped, his face full of alarm.

Starry clenched her fists, took a deep breath, and forced herself to stay calm.

…

Now that Starry was level 10, she could head straight to the new map. But Zane’s main body was still at level 9, 78% experience. If he leveled alone, he’d be grinding until midnight. With Starry’s help, though, the process would be exponentially faster.

Especially now that she had two powerful active skills: Icy Moon Slash and Thousand Flash Steps.

Icy Moon Slash was an excellent skill for both crowd control and damage output. And considering it was only level 1, its potential at higher levels was unimaginable.

Meanwhile, Thousand Flash Steps granted a 50% movement speed boost for 5 seconds, making it incredibly useful for both chasing enemies and escaping danger. On top of that, every successful dodge further increased movement speed, meaning the more she dodged, the stronger she got. It was an exhilarating mechanic.

At this point, with her level 10 god-tier equipment, Starry practically looked like a boss in the Beginner Village.

“Hubby, look at that person’s sword! It’s so pretty~ I want one too!”
“That? It’s probably just a decorative skin, no real stats. I wouldn’t dare give my dear wife some shoddy knockoff.”
“Hmm… okay. Hubby is the best~”
“Of course!”

Starry’s face darkened. Yeah, it is time to get out of here. I am starting to feel like a gorilla in a zoo with all these people staring at me.

Passing through Slime territory, she barely spared a glance. Level 4 monsters were no longer worth her time, though plenty of players were still struggling against them.

Level 7 Wind Wolves? Level 9 Venomous Spiders? Not interested. Next.

“HELP—!”

While on the move, Starry vaguely heard a scream in the distance.

Is that just my imagination? Doesn’t matter. Leveling takes priority. First, I should—

“HELP—!!”

The voice grew louder. It was definitely a girl screaming… Alright, fine. I’ll check it out.

Pushing through the grass, her field of vision opened up.

In the distance, four players were running for their lives, being chased by a giant Venomous Spider. Judging by the situation, they had probably failed a boss fight.

Might as well check the boss’ stats. Zane stepped in a little closer to inspect it.

The poor player at the back was already covered head to toe in green debuffs.

Even though he kept chugging potions, he still couldn’t outheal the damage. Moments later, he turned into a flash of white light and was sent back to the village.

“Aggie!” One of the players up front let out a desperate scream, then suddenly stopped running. “I’ll fight you to the death—!”

Ssshh!

A web shot out, pinning him in place.

In the blink of an eye, his body was covered in poison debuffs.

A series of poison damage numbers popped up. Trapped and unable to use potions, he didn’t even last ten seconds before he was dead.

The Venomous Spider quickly switched targets. The two remaining female players hadn’t gotten far before another one went down. At that moment, the last surviving girl panicked and ran straight toward Zane and Starry.

“Watch out! I-I didn’t mean to drag you into this!” She was almost in tears.

That’s when Zane noticed her ID—”Zanny’s Cousin.”

No way… Is it just a coincidence that someone else is using that name? Doesn’t matter. Save first, confirm later!

Zane dashed forward. He didn’t use Starry because he didn’t want to instantly kill the boss and miss out on experience. His main body was still a bit short of leveling up—if he soloed the boss, it might just be enough!

From Starry’s perspective, the spider’s attack pattern was crystal clear. Zane sidestepped the incoming web. He was half a second late, but it was still enough to barely dodge the attack.

‘Zanny’s Cousin’ stood there in shock. Someone actually dodged a boss’ crowd control attack just by moving?!

Closing the distance in an instant, Zane drove the Radiant Iron Sword straight into the spider’s body, green blood splattering out.

With his current 31-33 attack power, breaking through the boss’ defense was easy, shaving a seventh of its health away in a single strike.

Of course, the boss wouldn’t take that lying down. It lifted its head and unleashed one of its most disgusting attacks.

Before they encountered Life Drain, Venom had been the most hated status effect among players. Not only was it a disgusting, sticky mess, but it also inflicted a 5-second poison DoT—which stacked!

Without enough potions, getting hit by Venom meant losing at least 125 HP. Get hit three times? You’re dead.

The attack came fast—dodging was nearly impossible. Zane jumped back, but he still got hit by the splash damage.

If that’s how it is… then let’s end this fast!

Zane started circling around the Venomous Spider.

The boss’ mouth swelled as it prepared another attack, but this gave Zane time to react. With Starry observing, he didn’t even need to look up—he could already predict where the boss was aiming.

That’s right—despite the short cast time, as long as he kept running in circles, he could completely dodge the attack!

In Dreamscape, movement and reaction time were closely tied to real-world reflexes. A normal person would’ve gotten dizzy long ago if they tried something like this. Only Zane, with his dual perspectives, could handle it without breaking a sweat.

If Venom couldn’t hit Zane, then this fight was already over.

Sure enough, after the sixth slash, the boss let out a final screech and collapsed.

“That was incredible! You actually soloed a level 9 Uncommon Boss?!” ‘Zanny’s Cousin’ gasped, mouth hanging open.

Meanwhile, Starry silently sheathed the Autumn Moon Sword. In truth, Zane had been a little nervous—if things had gone wrong, he would’ve had to send Starry in for an instant kill. Luckily, he didn’t embarrass himself this time…

After collecting the loot, Zane walked back over, studying the girl.

She fidgeted under his gaze, clearly uncomfortable. Finally, she couldn’t hold back anymore and declared, “Listen, master gamer, I admit you’re really skilled, but I already have someone I like!”

Zane’s mouth twitched, “Zaria?”

“Huh? How do you know that nickname?! You haven’t been stalking me, have you?!” Zaria gasped, quickly covering her chest.

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